The Minister for Trade of the Republic of Korea paid an official visit to India at the invitation of Sri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles of the Republic of India. Trade Minister Mr. Yeo met with the Commerce and Industry Minister Mr. Piyush Goyal in New Delhi today. 

 

Both the Ministers held wide ranging discussions covering the whole gamut of Bilateral Trade and Investment related aspects. The Ministers agreed to impart fresh momentum to the discussions on CEPA up-gradation negotiations and also promote  extensive B2B  interactions  on trade and investment between the Industry leaders of the two countries.  

 

The two Ministers agreed with the spirit of openness to address difficulties expressed by industry from both sides  and instructed their respective negotiating teams to meet on a regular basis in order to conclude the  CEPA up-gradation negotiations as soon as possible in a time bound manner building upon support from relevant stakeholders, so as to try to achieve the target of USD 50 Billion before 2030 which was agreed at the summit meeting in 2018. 

 

This regular negotiations shall be a forum to discuss the difficulties of business community from both countries and emerging trade-related issues including supply chain resilience. The Ministers agreed to boost bilateral trade between India and Korea to achieve growth in a fair and balanced manner to the mutual advantage of both sides.

Large scale adoption of Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)  — farm practices which exclude all synthetic chemical inputs and promote use of on-farm biomass — would result in ‘tremendous reduction’ in production of agricultural crops thus comprising India’s food security, an expert committee set up by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has stated.

 

ICAR had set up the committee in 2019 to empirically validate the results of ZBNF, which was promoted by Maharashtra-based Subhash Palekar and the farm practice was mentioned in two budget speeches of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in 2019-20 and 2020-21, where she referred to it as ‘innovative model for doubling farmers’ income’.“There would be tremendous yield loss if ZBNF is adopted on a large scale which may compromise India’s food security,” V Praveen Rao, vice-chancellor, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, chairman of the ICAR-appointed member committee, told FE.

 

The committee is likely to submit its report soon.While stressing for need to conduct long-term field trials on ZBNF, the 16-member committee consisting of agricultural scientists and farmers has suggested that future research on ZBNF should be carried out only in rainfed regions instead of irrigated zones which produce the biggest chunk of agricultural crops production in the country.

 

Agricultural scientists say that because of the Green Revolution initiated in early 1970s through introduction of high yielding seeds, application of chemical fertiliser and assured irrigation, India has emerged as one of the biggest producers of several agricultural crops such as rice, wheat, pulses and oilseeds. However, in the last four decades or so there has been gradual degradation of soil health because of excessive use of chemical fertiliser and pesticides.

 

In place of ZBNF, the ICAR committee has recommended adoption of an integrated production system through usage of farm practices such as conservation agriculture through usage of farmyard manure, inter-cropping, crop diversification and integrated nutrient management for improving soil health.According to Rao, the ICAR committee went through more than 1,400 scientific journals on various methods of promotion of sustainable agriculture besides interacting with farmers who have claimed to have adopted ZBNF across seven states.

 

The committee covered all the major crops such as rice, wheat, pulses, cotton and oilseeds in their assessments.Many of the elements of ZBNF such as name of Beejamrit (seed-microbial coating), Jeewamrit (soil-microbial enhancer), Waaphasa (soil-aeration), and Acchadana (Mulching), etc, are currently practised under the conservation agriculture.At present, Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Padhati (BPKP), a sub scheme of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), is being implemented by ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare since 2020-21, which focuses on promoting traditional indigenous practices including ZBNF.

 

Under BPKP, an area of 4.09 lakh hectares has been covered.Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar recently said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to minimise the dependence of farmers on purchased inputs through ZBNF that reduces the cost of agriculture by relying on traditional field-based technologies which leads to improved soil health through natural farming should be fulfilled.Meanwhile, ICAR has decided to develop a curriculum in consultation with agriculture universities and subject experts for inclusion of ZBNF in the syllabus at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Anticipating higher output of tur (pigeon pea) and urad (black matpe) in 2022, Myanmar pulses exporters want the Indian Government to enhance its annual import quota for these. Last year, India - the largest producer and consumer of pulses - had signed a five-year memorandum of understanding with Myanmar to annually import 2.5 lakh tonnes of urad and one lakh tonnes of tur from the neighbouring country. According to the Overseas Agro Traders Association (OATA) Myanmar, the pulses exporters association based in Yangon, production of tur in Myanmar is seen more than doubling to around 2.5 lakh tonnes, while urad crop size is seen higher by around eight per cent at 6.75 lakh tonnes in 2022.

 

'We would like to urge the governments of India and Myanmar to consider doubling of import quantities for tur and urad under the MoU,' said Vatsal Lilani, President, OATA Myanmar, at a recent webinar on the outlook for tur and urad in Myanmar. 'If the quotas are not increased to five lakh tonnes for urad and two lakh tonnes for tur by the Indian Government, it’s possible that farmers switch over to other cash crops that have a ready market across Myanmar’s land borders. If the Indian demand in subsequent years is for larger tonnages and they are not available we could see meteoric price rises,' Lilani said.

 

Nidhi Khare, Additional. Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs said 'Myanmar is a very important partner when it comes to supplying urad and tur. It has been contributing to 69 per cent and 98 per cent of the total imports in 2019-20 and 2020-21. We are dependent on import because there is a huge demand supply gap. The five-year MoU is an important step towards a stable and predictable import policy with respect to pulses and assured availability irrespective of short-term policy changes and adjustments.'

 

Hitesh Jain from AGT Foods and Secretary for OATA Myanmar said every policy India makes on urad will have a direct impact on the farmers in Myanmar. This year urad production is expected to be higher by 50,000 tonnes or more compared with last year as the sowing increased, which means the estimated production for 2022 would be around 675,000 tonnes. With the Indian Government extending the OGL regime till March 31, 2022, and the Myanmar harvest being around the corner, it will be interesting to see how markets react in both the countries The increase in MoU quota would ensure that farmers do not shift to other crops as to wean them back would be difficult, he said.

 

Lalit Pant of Viterra India said urad production in India this year was expected to be around 27.50 lakh tonnes production (in accordance with first advance estimates) but given the possible crop damage due to excessive rains during harvest, the production could be similar to last year. India’s annual requirement stands between 30 to 33 lakh tonnes creating a gap between supply and demand leaving room for import.

 

Nitin Kalantri of Kalantri Food Products said the production of tur, which has been impacted by excess rains this year, is likely to be lower by 15-20 per cent. The Agriculture Ministry in its first Advance Estimate have estimated the tur crop to be in the range of 44.30 lakh tonnes.

 

Kalantri said the India’s total annual consumption of tur is around 39 to 40 lakh tonnes, which is met through domestic production and imports. 'As of now, India has imported around five lakh tonnes out of which around 3 lakh tonnes have been consumed. So, we have 38 lakh tonnes of this year’s production plus 1.50 lakh tonnes of carryover with NAFED, 1.20 to 1.30 lakh tones carryover with private players and around 1.75 lakh to 2 lakh tonnes on imports expected from Myanmar by end-June. Currently, the farmers are among the biggest stockists and we do not expect the farmer to sell tur at distress prices.' Kalantri further said that tur prices are expected to be in the range of Rs5,700-6,500 per quintal.

 

Anant Chhajed of Swiss Singapore Overseas Enterprise said the expected opening stock of tur is around 10,000 tonnes and production during the year will be around 2.5 lakh tonnes.

 

Myanmar mainly depends on India for tur exports with very little quantity being exported to Nepal, UAE and others. A more consistent import policy from India will definitely help production in Myanmar and the five-year MoU will help the bilateral trade as well by providing stability to the trade. 'There is a demand deficit in the India numbers, so, the governments of India and Myanmar must consider increasing the quantity in the MoU for tur and it should be at least around two lakh tonnes since increasing the quantity and MOU also helps Indian Government in controlling retail inflation,' he said.

Despite the constraints arising in international trade and shipping due to the ongoing Covid pandemic and the resulting constraints on the cargo handling front, Deendayal Port Trust under Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterway, has crossed the 100 MMT milestone on 10.01.2022, and in the process became the 1st Govt. Sector Major Port, to cross the mark in the year 2021-22. Incidentally, in the current fiscal year, DPT has crossed the milestone 4 weeks ahead in comparison of the last fiscal, i.e. FY 2020-21 during which DPT had reached the landmark on 09.02.2021.

 

Increase was seen in the Import cargoes such as POL, Edible Oils, Liquid Fertilizer Raw Materials like Phosphoric Acid and Ammonia, Chemicals, Rock Phosphate, Steel pipes, Iron ore, Coal, Timber logs and Crude Oil. Export cargoes such as Edible oil, Chemicals, Foodgrains like Wheat and Soya Bean Mill, Bentonite and POL products at Vadinar have also witnessed growth in cargo throughput during FY 2021-22 as compared to FY 2020-21.

 

The DPT’s cargo throughput growth in the 3rd quarter of current fiscal was the highest among all Govt. Major Ports, with the Port registering 33.52 MMT traffic in the Oct-Dec21 quarter. In the month of December 2021 only, DPT had handled 11.32 MMT cargo which had contributed to about 18% of the total cargo handled by all Major Ports.

 

Shri S.K. Mehta, Chairman-DPT and Shri Nandeesh Shukla, Dy. Chairman-DPT congratulated the Trustees, Officials, Workers, Trade Unions of DPT, Port Users and Stakeholders for their efforts, initiatives and their continuous support behind reaching this important milestone. The Port’s cargo handling is expected to cross 127 MMT by end of the current fiscal.

Commerce Ministry hopes to achieve the $400-billion export target for 2021-22

 

India’s exports continued to grow steadily in the first week of January 2022, posting a 33.16 per cent increase (year-on-year) to $7.63 billion, per preliminary weekly data shared by the Commerce & Industry Ministry.

 

Exports, excluding petroleum, increased in this period by 24.97 per cent compared to the same period of 2020-21, indicating that export growth was experienced in a number of sectors.

 

In December 2021, exports recorded the highest ever monthly performance of $37.29 billion, posting a growth of 37 per cent over the same month of the previous fiscal. The top sectors were petroleum, gems & jewellery, engineering products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and textiles registering lead.

 

India’s imports, too, increased sharply by 38.06 per cent in December 2021 to $59.27 billion with trade deficit widening to $21.99 billion compared to $15.72 billion in December 2020.

 

Exports in the April-December 2021 period at $299.74 billion recorded a 48.85 per cent growth over exports in the same period of the previous fiscal.

 

The Commerce Ministry is positive about achieving the $400-billion export target set for 2021-22 although it is apprehensive that the fast spread of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus could lead to problems related to shipping and container availability.

India has appealed against a ruling of the World Trade Organisation's trade dispute settlement panel on domestic sugar subsidies, stating that the panel has committed 'certain errors of law' in its report, the WTO said on Tuesday. The appeal was filed by India in the WTO's Appellate Body, which is the final authority on such trade disputes.

 

'India has notified the Dispute Settlement Body of its decision to appeal the panel reports in the cases brought by Brazil, Australia and Guatemala in 'India - Measures Concerning Sugar and Sugarcane,' the WTO said in a statement.

 

It said that given the ongoing lack of agreement among WTO members regarding the filling of Appellate Body vacancies, there is no Appellate Body division available at the current time to deal with the appeal.

 

The panel in its ruling on December 14, 2021, recommended India to withdraw its alleged prohibited subsidies under the Production Assistance, Buffer Stock, and Marketing and Transportation Schemes within 120 days from the adoption of this report.

 

Ruling in favour of Brazil, Australia, and Guatemala in their trade dispute against India over New Delhi's sugar subsidies, the WTO panel has stated that the support measures are inconsistent with WTO trade rules.

 

In its submissions to the Appellate Body, India has appealed and requested the body to  reverse, modify, or declare moot and of no legal effect, the findings, conclusions, rulings and recommendations of the Panel', with respect to certain 'errors of law or legal interpretation contained in the panel report'. -PTI

Indian Ambassador in Madagascar Abhay Kumar on Tuesday attended a review meeting over the progress in bilateral ties between New Delhi and Antananarivo, according to the Embassy of India in Antananarivo, Madagascar & Comoros.

 

The meeting was chaired by Madagascar Prime Minister Christian Ntsay in which several cabinet ministers including the Minister of Foreign Affairs Patrick Rajoelina and Indian Ambassador Abhay Kumar were present.

 

'Today Hon'ble Prime Minister of Madagascar H.E. @NtsayC chaired a meeting to review the progress in bilateral relations between #India and #Madagascar which was attended by several cabinet ministers including the Minister of Foreign Affairs @prajoelina and @AmbassadorAbhay,' the embassy tweeted.

Bilateral ties between India and Madagascar are on the upswing for the last three years. Madagascar, along with Comoros, became part of the Indian Ocean Region Division in December 2019.

 

India became an observer at the Indian Ocean Commission in March 2020 which is a grouping of western Indian Ocean islands.Prime Minister Christian Ntsay had hosted a meeting in October 2020 to review the bilateral relations between India and Madagascar which were attended by several cabinet ministers and Ambassador Abhay Kumar.

 

This is a second such meeting taken by the country's Prime Minister to review India-Madagascar bilateral ties. It shows the high importance Madagascar gives to its relations with India.

 

India has been sending regular humanitarian aid to Madagascar under its SAGAR policy. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had a telephonic conversation with his Malagasy counterpart in March 2021, and India deployed INS Jalashwa with 1000 tonnes of rice for the people of drought-hit Southern Madagascar.

A special training team of the Indian navy trained Malagasy armed forces in the same month. Madagascar's Defence Minister visited India in February 2021 to attend the Indian Ocean Region Defence Ministers Conclave and AeroIndia exhibition in Bangalore.The ties between the two Indian Ocean neighbours are growing in all spheres. There are about 20,000 people of Indian origin, mostly from Gujarat, who live and work in Madagascar.

 

India and Madagascar share deep cultural connections and India is a key trade partner of Madagascar with bilateral trade reaching about 400 million USD in 2020-21.

As State governments across India have begun imposing various restrictions to curb the surge in Covid cases, the Union Food Processing Ministry said it has set up a dedicated grievance cell to maintain uninterrupted supplies of food-related essentials.

 

In a statement the Ministry said, “Subsequent to the recent surge in Covid cases across the country, steps are being taken by State governments/UT administration to control the spread of the Covid virus. Ministry of Food Processing Industries has a dedicated grievance cell for the food and food-related industry to ensure hassle-free operations and uninterrupted supply of essentials for citizens.'

 

“The Ministry would like to assure its commitment towards all food processing and related industries and would provide the necessary support to ensure successful continuity of business of agri-food industry in India,' it added.

 

Addressing issues

 

The Ministry had set up a similar grievance cell during the first wave when the national lockdown was imposed in the country. It had also stepped in to address production and logistics related grievances of the food processing industry during the second pandemic wave last year, as different state governments had imposed different kinds of restrictions depending on local conditions.

 

The Ministry said that industry players can send in their concerns and queries on covidgrievance-mofpi@gov.in.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday spoke to his British counterpart Liz Truss, covering 'shared interest' in trade, investment and security.

 

The telephonic conversation between Mr Jaishankar and Truss came days before the start of negotiations between the two countries for a comprehensive free trade agreement.

 

British Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan is scheduled to pay a two-day visit to India from Wednesday to launch the negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

 

Mr Jaishankar described the talks with Truss as a 'warm conversation'.

 

'A warm conversation with UK Foreign Secretary @trussliz. Discussed our shared interest in trade, investment and security. Look forward to welcoming her in India,' S Jaishankar tweeted.

 

In May last year, India and the UK adopted a 10-year-roadmap to expand ties in the key areas of trade and economy, defence and security, climate change and people-to-people connect among others.

 

The Roadmap 2030 was adopted at a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson at a virtual summit.

 

The conversation between Mr Jaishankar and Truss came days before India and the UK are set to start negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement. British Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan is scheduled to pay a two-day visit to India from Wednesday to launch the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.

 

Mr Jaishankar also spoke to Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn.

 

'Spoke to DPM and FM Prak Sokhonn of Cambodia. Discussed India ASEAN relations, Mekong-Ganga Cooperation and the situation in Myanmar. Will work closely with Cambodia in its capacity as ASEAN Chair,' he tweeted.

 

The 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is considered one of the most influential groupings in the region, and India and several other countries including the US, China, Japan and Australia are its dialogue partners.

 

The ties between India and ASEAN have been on an upswing in the last few years with the focus being on ramping up cooperation in the areas of trade and investment as well as security and defence.

 

In the last few days, Mr Jaishankar spoke to his counterparts from the US, Russia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria.

 

He also spoke to the foreign ministers of Egypt, Israel, Australia, Indonesia, the Maldives, Bhutan, Iran and France.

India may see dairy exports growing significantly in the next decade. A latest research report by an independent consulting player Wazir Advisors stated that India is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the emerging opportunities in dairy products in the international markets.

 

Large international markets such as the US, Canada, and New Zealand are witnessing a stagnation in dairy production, while the consumption is likely to grow - thus, there is an increased export opportunity, noted the report for December 2021. Further, Japan, the Russian Federation, Mexico, West Asia, and North Africa will continue to be important net importers.

 

Quoting the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook for 2021-30, it says India along with Pakistan will contribute over 30 per cent to the global production in 2030.

 

‘Unique position’

World’s largest milk producer, India’s produced all time high 198.4 million tonnes of milk in 2019-20 with per capita milk availability further increasing to 407 grams per day. 'Overall, India finds itself in a unique position for the next 10 years with both production and market estimated to grow. This augurs well for all participants in the value chain, especially since major growth will come from value-added products,' the report said.

 

The global per capita consumption of fresh dairy products is projected to increase by 1 per cent per annum over the next decade. The EU is currently the largest market for processed dairy products followed by the US. The trend is likely to continue over the next decade, the report noted.

 

But the share of value-added dairy products is about 30-35 per cent of the total milk and milk products’ markets, which the government wants to take to 40 per cent by 2025. Rabobank in its 2021 report has estimated 15 per cent annual growth rate for value-added products, which include segments such as cheese, fermented milk, butter, cream, condensed milk and whey, among others.

 

As per the Wazir Advisors’ report, ice creams command the largest share in value terms in the value-added segment, followed by yogurt, baby food, and cheese. Margins are high in products such as whey products, ice cream and UHT milk with 20 per cent or more, cheese and yogurt have at least 15 per cent margins followed by flavoured milk and butter milk with minimum 12 per cent margin. Quoting a Crisil data, the report says that price margin for liquid milk is about 3-5 per cent.

 

For India, the domestic consumption of fresh and processed dairy products would dominate, thereby limiting the opportunity for international trade. But it noted that the rate of increase in India’s share in international trade will depend upon how quickly India is able to address challenges related to productivity and efficiency.

 

In the post-pandemic market, the consumption pattern for dairy products in India has changed for higher household and retail segment consumption. Packaged dairy products are more in demand now, the sale through e-commerce and digital apps is growing, also the household sales has increased at the cost of institutional sales.

 

'While in the past, the organised dairy market was dominated by dairy cooperatives, the private sector has gained prominence over the last few years. Today, the share of milk handled by the private sector has exceeded that of the cooperative sector,' the report noted pointing at the growing organised private sector interests in the traditionally unorganised or cooperative-dominated dairy space.